Aureole looked up, hearing someone apologizing. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized the girl wasn't talking to her. Returning her gaze to the ground, she continued walking, only to trip over the girl who had apologized a minute ago. She managed to land on her elbows, turning them into a bloody mess. After hissing out a string of curses under her breath, she apologized to the girl, "sorry, I don't know how I managed that one," she said, standing up and pulling her cloak tighter around herself to hide the blood on her arms. That was stupid. That was really stupid.
Cicada looked at the girl that had just fallen. She put the watch in her bag and grabbed a balm from within the same bag. She held out the smaller pouch to her, "It's fine. Here, this should help. See ya around."
Cicada made the executive desicion to turn and continue walking before more attention got drawn to her.
Aureole blinked. After a moment of staring, frozen in surprise, she shook her head as if to clear it. "Oh - I, um - thanks - thank you," she called wincing at herself and quickly looking away. "Well that was completely stupid," she muttered to herself.
"No, it wasn't," he interrupted. "You fell over - it's alright. Cheer up! There's only a few minutes until you should start preparing for the gala - in fact, only… wait." Nathan glanced at his watch, well, where his watch should've been. Excusing himself from the faerie, he hurried after the human.
A pick-pocket. Thank the Lifetree. The elf took his time, tracking her down at a languid, relaxed pace. Despite the relief that crashed over his body at the thought of declining his interaction with Jaycee Winshine, his mother would absolutely annihilate him if he managed to lose his watch at a market plaza. His eyes snagged on a flash of red hair. There.
Aureole stared, watching him leave. This was weird. So far, not one but two people had been… nice. To her. It was almost suspicious. Putting a hand to her face self-consciously, she realized that her cheek was bleeding as well. "Well, there goes 3 hours of preparing," she muttered, groaning as she made her way out of the market area and climbed a tree to sit in it. "It's not like I can show up like this, anyway," she told herself, heart sinking with the truth of the statement.
Cicada spotted the elf following her. Why he wasn't running after her was a mystery, but she would take that. Less attention drawn to herself. She entered another back alley that lead closer to the palace hoping to shake him off her trail. This was her city, no one knew it better than her.
Scratching his head, Nathan deduced that he wouldn't be able to corner her. He quietly observed as she darted into a back alley, slightly confused. The gala was going to start soon, and he supposed a watch was replaceable. Curiosity got the better of the elf, and he tracked her movements, slipping into the back alley.
Cicada spotted the elf following after her. Let’s see how far he’ll go for this, she thought to herself as she began to scale the side of a building. She reached the top and made sure her hood was pulled all the way up before looking down at the elven male.
Scaling buildings was not a skill taught to him, seeing as it wasn't something Nathan typically needed. Helplessly, the elf stared with something akin to amusement flecked in his brown eyes. He debated calling out, finally resorting to, "Can I have my watch back? Please?"
Cicada sat down on the roof ledge a small smirk dancing on her lips. She grabbed the watch from the bag and held it in her hand, "This watch? What'll ya pay for it?"
His eyes drifted slowly between the pick-pocket and his watch. If only he had his crossbow, a problem this simple could be solved easily. However, bringing a crossbow to the Princess's Gala wasn't exactly a show of peace. "Not more than it'll take to buy a new watch," Nathan stated.
"Then pay the gold up," Cicada responded holding her free hand out, "Then you can get your watch back. Don't know why ya followed me anyway."
"How much would you get on the streets for a watch? I can't imagine the purpose is extremely useful when there's a clock in the plaza," he mused, grinning. "And lower-class folk wouldn't waste so much money, anyway, I presume."
"Oi!" Cicada contested, "Lots of people would pay good money for a watch. Around 5 gold if I'm r'memb'rin' my prices right. People buy this shit to make themselves look richer."
(about how much is 5 gold equivalent to in our world?)
(Ehhhh, let's say 50 dollars. That sounds about right.)
(Hm, okay.)
Five gold. He shook his head in sadness at the low value, suddenly pitying the girl before him. The watch had to be worth forty gold at least, where he came from. "I can get you eight gold by the end of the night… say, are you coming to the gala?"
Cicada could practically hear the pity in his voice. She scowled mentally, but kept her carefree manner, "No, but I'll be around. I don't need ya pity anyway."
Of course she didn't, he thought sarcastically to himself. "I still need my watch, regardless of how you'll manage," Nathan reminded, not knowing who the words were directed to. "Ten gold, by the end of the night. I can meet you somewhere after the gala?"
"Fine," Cicada tossed down the watch and stood up from the ledge, "If I don't see you tonight, I'm coming after you. So don't think you're getting out of your payment."
"Mhm…" Nathan acted unconcerned, even taking his time as he strolled down the alley. He lingered before leaving, calling back, "Eight gold!" Making sure his watch was banded securely around his left wrist, the elf dove back into the market plaza.
"Ten gold!" Cicada called back as she made her way across the roof tops to one of the lowest branches to the large tree that spanned across most of the city. She climbed up and felt the welcoming sensation of being back in the tree before continuing to make her way to the thickest part of the branches right above the palace courtyard.
Any second now. Any second now. He spotted gold eyes and rich skin, pointed ears, shit - you couldn't deny that she was gorgeous. Ducking and pulling a maneuver that would've had Life reeling, Nathan avoided detection from Jaycee Winshine's searching gold eyes. Any second- an arm tugged on his, pulling him away from the female elf.
"There's only an hour until the gala!" A familiar voice hissed in his ear.
Nathaniel let his body be conformed to his mom's tugs, as he debated the irony of the situation.
(Should we skip to the gala now?)
